Free kitchen rota template: sections, split shifts and an hours tracker for your brigade

A kitchen rota is a different animal to a front-of-house one. "Three chefs on" means nothing unless you know they're on the right sections, that someone's in at 9 to take the fish delivery and start the stocks, and that the KP isn't on their own for a 120-cover Saturday. Hours creep, splits blur, and the head chef ends up writing it at 11pm after service.

These three templates are built for kitchens. Use them in order, copy them into Excel, Google Sheets or a notebook, and change the sections and times to match your menu.

Template 1: section cover by service

Before names, decide which stations each service needs. This example is a 70-cover restaurant open Tuesday to Sunday, lunch 12 to 2.30 and dinner 6 to 9.30.

How to fill it in:

1. Look at last month's covers per service and your menu. A Sunday roast needs a different line-up from a Tuesday lunch.
2. Mark which sections can double up on quiet services (larder and pastry, say) and which can't.
3. Add the prep hours you need before each service: stocks, sauces, butchery, mise en place.
4. Write known bookings in the bottom row and add cover where they need it.

Template 2: the weekly kitchen rota

Now put names to it. Each cell shows start-finish and a section code. Split shifts go in the same cell with a slash.

Section codes: P = Pass, G = Grill/hot, L = Larder, PS = Pastry, PR = Prep, K = KP

Week commencing: ____________

How to use it:

• Fill the opening and closing chef rows first. Someone has to own deliveries, the walk-in check and the close-down.
• Count only hours worked. A 9-3 / 5-10 split is 11 hours, not 13.
• Put deliveries in day notes, so whoever's opening knows what's arriving and when.
• Check under-18s separately. Ruth is 17, so her shifts stay within 8 hours a day and 40 a week, finish before 10pm and leave 12 hours' rest between working days.
• Watch the close-then-open. Aisha closes Thursday at 10.30pm and starts at 9am on Friday: that's 10.5 hours. Under GOV.UK guidance adults are normally entitled to 11 hours' rest between working days, so either start her at 9.30 or move the Thursday close. (This is left in deliberately: it's the mistake kitchen rotas make most often.)

Template 3: the chef hours tracker

Chefs' hours are where kitchens get into trouble. Under GOV.UK guidance, workers can't average more than 48 hours a week, normally over a 17-week reference period, unless they've opted out voluntarily and in writing. Under-18s are limited to 8 hours a day and 40 a week and can't opt out.

Track it with a simple running total:

How to use it: add each week's hours actually worked (not just rota'd), divide the running total by the number of weeks, and flag anyone heading over 48 who hasn't opted out. Keep a dated copy of any opt-out on file; anyone can cancel an opt-out with at least 7 days' notice (or up to 3 months if your agreement says so).

Kitchen rota checks before you publish

• Every service has the sections from Template 1 covered, including a KP.
• Named opening and closing chef every day.
• 11 hours between shifts for adults, 12 for under-18s.
• Breaks planned. Adults working more than 6 hours get one uninterrupted 20-minute break; under-18s get 30 minutes after 4.5 hours. On a 9 to 10.30 straight, plan it, don't hope for it.
• Weekly rest. 24 hours off a week or 48 hours a fortnight for adults; 48 hours a week for under-18s.
• Hours tracker updated, nobody heading past a 48-hour average without a written opt-out.
• Holidays checked against the holiday book.
• Labour cost checked against forecast covers.

Splits come with their own rules; our split shifts guide explains when compensatory rest applies. For the full picture, see UK working time rules in hospitality.

Common kitchen rota mistakes

• Rota'ing headcount, not sections. Two chefs on is no use if neither can run the grill.
• Forgetting prep. The service is covered but nobody's in early enough to get the mise en place done.
• The head chef on every shift. If the rota only works when one person does 60 hours, it doesn't work.
• KPs as an afterthought. A Saturday with one KP and a full restaurant is a pot wash backlog by 8pm.
• Changes by text. Swaps agreed on WhatsApp never make it onto the posted rota.

Or let ShiftComplete run the kitchen rota for you

The templates above work, but they need rewriting every week. ShiftComplete does the same jobs automatically:

• Sections as areas. Set up your own areas (Pass, Grill, Larder, Pastry, Prep, KP), and every time block shows where a chef's working.
• Real split shifts. Up to four time blocks per person per day, so "9-3 Prep / 5-10 Pass" is one line.
• Availability from the brigade. Chefs set available, partial or off on their phones, weeks ahead, with a note. Holidays are recorded so you don't rota someone who's off.
• Events for bookings. "Party of 30, +1 Larder, +1 KP" on the day, and the draft rota adds the cover.
• A fair draft rota in seconds. Weight your senior chefs onto the services that need them, then drag and adjust before publishing.
• Labour cost as you build, so the third chef on a quiet lunch shows up before you publish.
• Clocking in and out. Switch on time tracking and chefs clock in on their phone or the kitchen tablet. You see hours worked against the rota and can download them as a spreadsheet with a total per person, which is exactly what Template 3 needs (and what payroll needs too).
• Fixed weekly schedules for the KP or breakfast chef who works the same shifts every week.
• Day notes for deliveries and tastings, and the published rota on every phone under My rota, or by email.

And the same app keeps the kitchen's records: fridge, freezer and hot-hold temperature logs with out-of-range readings flagged, every dish mapped to the 14 UK allergens, and cleaning checklists by weekday (our kitchen cleaning schedule template is a good starting list).

It's £1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, no contract. A brigade of 6 is £8.94 a month. Free for 60 days with no card, and set-up takes about five minutes.

"The rota stopped being a Sunday-night argument the week we switched over. The chef stopped being the only person who knows what's in the kitchen. And the EHO turn up to a screen, not a box file."

Graeme Kirkham, Owner, The Lounge Oswestry & Knock & Snitch

Read more about our chef rota app, or start your free trial.